I personally don't know how a phase shift could ever be a good thing.

Basically, any phase shift at a particular frequency or range of freqs involved with a crossover between two drivers, would result in a decrease of output for the freq involved. Bingo, no more flat frequency response where the phase shift has occurred.

Now, *usually* crossovers are used at lower frequencies, 60 - 120 Hz or so. Digitally, that is a piece of cake, due to the typically high sampling rates involved (compared to the crossover freq).

I would always prefer it be done in the analog domain too, simply because of the "continuity" (digitally, no matter how high a sample rate is still discrete), but at these frequencies, I doubt *anyone* could tell the difference.

I plotted frequency response of my system a bunch of times once. Every Hz from 98 to 20 Hz. Crossover set to 80 Hz. Really interesting in that I could get the sub in phase with my mains at *either* 60 to 90 Hz, or 20 to 30 Hz. Chose the higher simply because there is more content there. (Obviously a phase shift between the 2 somewhere.) Phase in a HT is a really interesting thing that most people don't fully understand.


[This message has been edited by Kevin C Brown (edited August 15, 2002).]